[re_nortex]

Most don’t now. It is all this big, recent anti-bullying push on TV and in the movies. Really, it is just hokey. Not that I’m for bullying but most go all 80s sitcom on how to deal with bullies when in reality, they need their butt whooped by their parents or the victims to stand up. Instead, they all just talk about their feelings. Really, what middle schooler does that?

I was bullied in junior high (what's now called middle school) when I transferred from one school district to another. Hence, I was the n00b with all that entails.

It was among the best things that ever happened to me. Really.

Almost like Ralph Parker in the movie, A Christmas Story, I "has all I can stands and I can't stands no more!". I didn't quite become the Tasmanian Devil but I beat the snot out this guy. It's probably a cliche, but the onetime bully and I then became great friends through the rest of junior high and until we graduated from high school and went our separate ways.

Frankly, a lot of the sissy boys could use a little bullying to straighten them out. No, I'm not advocating thuggery -- just some good old playground fights. Back in my day, getting a bloody nose or a black eye was a rite of passage that turned some boys into men.

I'm not sure how well received my viewpoint will be received here and I realize that things have changed (especially since busing killed the neighborhood school) since the 40s and 50s when I came of age. But I've stated my experience with honesty and with candor so I'll take my virtual lumps here just like I did with the real thing so many decades ago. :-)

[Jeff Chandler]

Back in my day, getting a bloody nose or a black eye was a rite of passage that turned some boys into men.

I sure got plenty of beat downs in my day. I'd like to think it was because it was a different era, but I know the truth is it was because I always mouthed off to my older brother.

[rbg81]

There is truth to this. The decision to fight back against a bully is a defining moment in many a boy’s transition to manhood. Unlike the movies, you may well STILL get the snot beaten out of you, but the bully will probably move on to an easier target. So....mission accomplished.

IMHO, the kids who are sufficiently strong and big enough a$$holes to harass the weaker ones will always be seen as “cool”, I think its programmed into our genes and probably had more of a point when we were hunter-gatherers. Is it fair or right? No. But many things in life aren’t fair. The important skill is being able to deal with, and overcome, the unfairness.

[Intolerant in NJ]

You’ll get no argument from me - I often wonder how these kids are going to make out in the real world after school when the anti-bully police aren’t around to hold their hands - the first few years in a job or the military are going to provide rude awakenings for many of them.......